This time, it all starts in Siberia where El Nino has been responsible for enough global warming that the tundra has thawed. A traveling peasant finds the remains of two soldiers and scurries back to report it to the authorities. This is a superstitious land where the magic power of witch doctor priests persists and the people believe that unheard conversations freeze in the winter and are heard in the summer thaws. From the Stalin experience it is also a place where defense is staged in advance of accusations for every action.

The men are identified as an English soldier and an American soldier and they have been executed. The body of a similarly executed Russian woman is found beneath them. Moscow is contacted.

Natalia Nikandrova, formerly a Colonel in the KGB, is ultimately placed in charge of the investigation. This is not exactly an honor when your career well-being is dependent upon the successful investigation of a murder over fifty years old. Charlie Muffin fans know Natalia as the officer with whom Charlie staged a phony defection in a prior book. Natalia is also the mother of Charlie’s five year old daughter, Sasha.

Meanwhile in England, subsequent to the end of the Cold War, MI6, SIS and other agencies began their downsizing, resizing as they regroup to defend themselves against terrorist and other less organized enemies. They are evolving into a quasi British FBI type agency, and to justify their continued existence, Charlie is assigned to Moscow. Charlie has enemies within, due to his indifference to authority and pompous people. So when Moscow advises them of the ancient murder, Charlie is tapped to investigate. He has also been advised that his career is riding on solving the murder.

American FBI agent Miriam Bell also becomes involved. Each government has the same agenda: Do not permit the investigation to embarrass them, if possible blame another government for anything you can, and solve the crime if you must, but hope that it isn’t solved. The individual players are operating within their own unique risk parameters.

As for Charlie and Natalia, they are temporarily back together, but for how long? Charlie is trying to regain Natalia’s love and trust. But certainly, the phrase conflict of interest is applicable if they are discovered. Of course Charlie opens it up when he unearths a secret that all three governments will kill to conceal.

Dead Men Living is an incredibly intriguing book, which demonstrates the conflicts in the emerging UIS, both as to jurisdictional issues and cultural differences. It highlights the changes in the mysterious governmental agencies all countries field, and the impact on them from the cessation of the Cold War.

All of these issues are woven into the very clever and complicated plot. Brian Freemantle is using characters from prior books so these people are not particularly well developed. However, they do evolve throughout the book, and a first time reader is able to catch up. Interesting sidebars are the anecdotes used to describe life in Siberia.

Dead Men Living is a novel that one almost needs a scorecard to keep the many players straight. The novel is choppy in places and scenes jump from one venue to another without any effort to link them. The overwhelming redeeming feature is the originality of this multifaceted plot.

--Thea Davis